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Purdue basketball's tenure as Team USA officially begins Sunday morning at 5:30 a.m. with a World University Games Pool C opener against Argentina.

The Purdue/Team USA games will be available at livestream.com/fisu and on the FISU TV App on Apple and Android devices. Some games may also be available via tape delay on CBS Sports Net.

Purdue competes in five pool play games from Sunday through Friday. The top two teams in each pool advance to the quarterfinals, held Aug. 27-29.

Even if it doesn't advance out of pool play, Team USA will play consolation games as all places on the bracket are played out.

Team USA medaled in 20 of the 23 previous games, but only two of its 14 gold medals have come since 1999.

Team USA is 9-0 all-time against its pool play opponents. Purdue is trying to repeat Kansas gold medal performance of 2015.

Pool players

Argentina: Erik Thomas, a 6-5, 215-pound forward, was an honorable mention All-American at the University of New Orleans last season. He averaged 19.3 points and 7.8 rebounds to earn Southland Conference Player of the Year honors.

Ayan de Carvalho is a 6-5, 190 guard who will be a redshirt sophomore at Temple this season. Another big guard, Matias Solanas, averaged 10.1 points in the FIBA U19 World Cup earlier this year.

United Arab Emirates: USA opened the 2013 games with a 140-46 victory over UAE, which went 1-7 to finish 19th. (That USA squad failed to qualify for the quarterfinals.)

Czech Republic: Most of these players are connected to teams in the Czech National Basketball League. Vaclav Bujnoch, a 6-7 forward, played in the states at Des Moines Area Community College in 2013-14.

The Czech Republic and USA were pool mates in 2011, with USA winning 96-53.

Romania: Not a competitor in 2015, Romania made the quarterfinals in 2013 and finished sixth.

Point guard Tudor Gheorge collected 16 points and eight assists against Croatia in the FIBA U20 European Championship finals this summer. Sebastian Ionescu, also on the World University Games squad, backed him up with 4.5 points per game.

Mihnea Andrei, a 6-7 small forward, has also played in multiple FIBA European championship events.

Estonia: The only 2015 quarterfinalist in the pool besides USA.

While most teams have players with professional ties, 6-7 power forward Martin Jurtom is one of the few with his own wikipedia entry. His six-year pro career has been split between Estonia and italy.

Looking ahead

Australia: Purdue won't be the only Big Ten Conference representation in Taiwan. Jack McVeigh, a 6-8 rising junior guard for Nebraska, averaged 7.5 points per game last season.

Xavier Cooks, a 6-8 wing, has scored over 1,000 career points for Winthrop. Other NCAA players on the roster include Miami's Dejan Vasiljevic and St. Mary's Emmett Narr.

Canada: The Boilermakers are already familiar with Canada, having faced it twice in exhibitions last weekend. Conor Morgan, who averaged 19.5 points and 9.5 rebounds, is a tough cover as a skilled 6-9 wing with range.

While Purdue won both games, Canada led at halftime of both and pushed Team USA in overtime at Lafayette Jeff.

Germany: USA went to overtime in 2015 to beat the Germans in the championship game, 84-77. Such a scenario could unfold again as Germany is in Pool B on the opposite side of the bracket.

Lithuania: A perennial contender at these games, Lithuania has finished in the top six in at least the past five tournaments. That includes gold (under a different tourney format) in 2007 and bronze in 2011.

Russia: The 2013 gold medal winner took the bronze two years ago after a semifinal loss to USA. Russia will be a heavy favorite to emerge from it not win Pool D, which is the pool Purdue would face in the quarterfinals if it advances out of pool play.

Alexander Kurbatov, a 6-10 center, averaged 4.5 points and 1.7 rebounds to help Russia finish fourth at the FIBA U20 European Championship.

Serbia: The victim of a tough pool play draw in 2015, Serbia went 6-2 to finish ninth. Twp years early, it won its pool and took bronze.

An eventual matchup with Serbia would be a nice moment for Purdue freshman Sasha Stefanovic, who grew up rooting for the national team.